40 confirmed dead in Nigerian town attacks: official

The death toll from the attacks over the weekend by suspected Fulani Herdsmen on residents of Godogodo town in central north Nigeria's Kaduna State rose to 40 on Monday.

Solomon Musa, National President of Southern Kaduna Peoples' Union, told Xinhua in Kaduna that the locals have been able to identify 40 corpses. There are also several other corpses which are burnt beyond recognition.

"The barbarians wreaked maximum havoc and destruction by killing uncountable number of lives of our people," Musa told Xinhua, adding that "virtually all houses have been razed in the town."

He called on both the state and federal governments to carry out "decisive and combined operation to halt the genocide in the area."

Musa also demanded the arrest and prosecution of all the attackers and strengthening of intelligence gathering mechanism in the area.

Meanwhile, the state government has condemned the attacks, which it says "unjustifiable", and appealed to residents of the area to remain calm. Endit